Convertible chess and checker game piece



Patented Apr. 9, 1940 v PATENT-O F C CONVERTIBLE CHESS AND CHECKER GAME 1 PIECE Paul R. Gruben. Waterbury, Conn. ,7 Application October 17, 1938', Serial No; 235,338

5 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in games, and more particularly to a combination chess and checker game piece which may be used on a common checker board and which may be readily changed from The objects of this. invention are to provide an improved chess and checker game piece of the above nature which will be relatively inexpensive to manufacture, simple in'construction,

compact, ornamental in appearance, and very eflicient and durable in use.

With these and other objects in view, which will appear as the des-criptionproce'eds, there have been illustrated in the accompanying drawing severalforms in which the invention may be conveniently embodied in prac ice.

In' the drawing: I Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a common game board as it appears with a setof chess men arranged thereon in playing position.

Fig. 2 is a. side view of acombination game piece having a detachable uppen chess portion' representing a knight. i

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the game piece shown inFig. 2. I

Fig. 4 is an enlarged top plan view .of one of the base members or checker playing discs with the chess playing upper portion removed therefrom. I I

Fig.5 is a'sectional view of the same. taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4..

Fig. 6 is a broken sectional view of taken on the line 6--6 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged'bottom viewof the upper chess portion of the. game piece. I

Fig. 8 is a brokenview of the lower part of the chess portion shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a'plan view of a modified form of checker member or base piece to which an upper chess portion may. be detachably secured.

Fig. 10 is a broken side view of the same with a chess portion connected thereto. v

Fig. '11 is a perspective view of a circular chess portion embodying a. modified form of the invention. j

Fig. 12 is a view of one of: the playing squares of a game boardhaving a recess for detachably the same,

receiving a chess playing portion of the twothroughout the several views, the numeral [0 denotes a common type of game. board'having eight rows of alternating black and white squares H thereon, and adapted for the playing of both one form into the other.-

opposite side surfaces.

sheet material. p p -'In order to detachabl yiconnect the upper chess 1:25

chess and checkers. Two opposing sets of chess playing pieces or fmen, sixteen in each set, are shown in playin'g'position on theboard H3 in Fig.1, said men preferably being made in contrastingfcolors not'indicated onthe drawing. The men 'of each set comprise the usual two castles l2, two knights I3, two bishops Ii, a king I 5, a quee'nlfi, and eight pawns l1. .These playing pieces each comprise upperand lower portions and are adapted to be converted into .10 checker pieces by the simple expedient of removing the'upp'er chess portion from its base or checker disc |8.-

"In Fig. 2, a composite game "piece is shown including the common form of checker base I8 and an upper chess portion l9 representing a knight. The chess portion l9 in this instance is formed from flat sheet materialQsuch as Bake lite, and is preferably manufactured by stamping or moldingit in a die'from a sheet with the .20

desired configuration embossed on both of its The checker disc l8 may likewise be stamped or molded fromsimilar portion I 9 to the lower checker disc I8 to provide a compositechess piece, the portion I9 is provided with a'depending tongue 20, whichis adapted to be manually inserted into a; keyhole? shaped recess 2| provided in the disc I8. The 3 tongue 20 is dovetailinform transversely to the plane of the portion l9, and has oppositely'in clined sides 22 and 23 curved to. tightly fit a pair of corresponding dovetail shaped undercuts or cam surfaces 24 and 25 in the base' disc l8. .315 In manufacturing the chess portions IS, the beveled sides'22 and 23 are first'form'ed straight. across the tongue 20 as indicated by dotted lines 1 'in'Figs. 7 -an'd*8,and are then curved many. 7 suitable manner to cause said sides totightly 4 fit the dovetail undercuts 24 and 25.

The keyhole opening 2| in-each disc l8/is' preferably made substantially rectangular and the undercut 24 diverges downwardly, as shown.

in Figs.'5 and'6. The longdimension of each 15 rectangular opening 2| extends at right-angles to the axis of the dovetail undercuts 24 and 25,

and said opening 2! is of proper dimensions to permit thefree insertion of the tongue thereintoi After the tongue 20 has been inserted into Q the opening 2!, the chess portion will-be given a (quarter turn, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3, whereupon the dovetail sides 22 and 23 .will

be disposed in tight engagement with the. dovetail undercut cams 24 and 25 respectively.

invention.

playingthe chess game.

A pair of parallel lines 26 and 21 are preferably marked on the upper surface of each base disc l8 (as shown in Figs. 3 and 4) to indicate when the sides of the chess portion I9 have reached the locked position in the base I8.

The base portion or disc I8 is also provided with a circular recess 28 in its undersurface, and a circular boss 29 upon its upper surface. The boss 29 of one checker disc is shaped to telescope into the recess 28 of another disc located below it, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 5,

so as to prevent the upper checker disc l8 from slipping off when the lower checker is crowned.

Modifications In the modified form of game playing piece shown in Figs. 9 and 10, the numeral 39 indicates a base member or checker disc, and the numeral 3| an upper chess portion. The chess portion 3| is provided with a depending dovetail tongue 32 which is adapted'to beslid from one side into a horizontal slot provided in the upper surface of the checker disc 39. The slot in the disc 30 is in two parts-a fiat-sided outer portion-33 leading in from the edge of the disc, and a narrower dovetail inner'portion 34 located at the center of the disc. The tongue 32 is first set in from above until it is seated in the portion '33, and then slid horizontally along into the dovetail portion 34 as far as it will go, whereby the chess portion 3| willbe centralized in respect to the checker disc 30, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 illustrates-a circular form of a chess portion 35, herein shown in the form'oi' a pawn 11, being molded in cylindrical form instead of flat, as in the previously described forms er the A dovetail tongue 36, similar in all respects to the tongue 20 supra, extends downwardly from the undersurface of the'chessman 35 and is adapted to be interlockedwith any one of the base discs 18.

In case it may be desired to play a game of chess using the upper chess portions only, a modified form of game boardmay be provided in which keyholerecesses 3Tare'provided in the center of each of the squares 38, as indicated in Fig. 12. Each recess3l is in all respectssimilar to the recess 2! in the discs 18. Also, parallel lines 39 and 49 maybe embossed upon the squares 31 to indicate when the chess men are in locked position.

Operation will beinterlocked with a base disc l8 by inserting itsdovetail tongue zll into the keyhole opening 2| in the disc l8 and rotating=the chess portion i9 a; quarter turn. The composite game piece thus produced is then ready for use in After the game of chess is finished and agame of checkers is desired, it will merely be necessary to remove the chess portions 19 from the base portions or checker discs l8, which discs may then be employed to play the game of checkers in-the usual manner.

One advantage of the present invention is that difierent games may be selectively played with a single ga1ne:board-in this instance, chess and checkers. I r

A further advantage is thatthe game board tion includes all the modifications and embodiments coming within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new, and for which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

1. In a convertible two part chess and checker game piece, a checker-playing base disc having an undercut recess, an upper chess-playing portion having a dovetail tongue for insertioninto said recess, and means to cause said chess-playing portion tobe detachably interlocked with said base by the rotation of said portion a quarter turnwith respect to said base.

Z. In a chess game, a checker board provided with a plurality of rowsof playing squares, each square having a vertical recess in the center thereof, and a plurality of chess pieces, each chess piece having a vertical tongue shaped to enter any of the recesses in said squares, and cooperating meansbetween said tongue and said recessesto detachably interlock said chesspieces thereto in vertical position when thelatter is portion to bedetachably interlocked with said baseby-therotationof saidportion a quarter turn with respect to' saidbase, and'means on said base portion-to indicate whensaid upright portion is in locked position.

4. In a convertible two-part chess and checker game piece, a checker-playing base disc having an undercut-recessan upper chess-playingportion having a dovetail tongue for insertion into said recess, and means to cause said chess-playing portion to be detachably interlocked with said base by-the rotation of said portion a quarter turn with respect to said base, each disc being providedwith a circular recess in its'bottom surface and a circular'boss on its upper surface to permit said checker disc to interfit with a similar disc placed .upon it. v

5. In a convertible two-part chess and checker game piece for playing upon a common checker board, a checker-playing base disc having in its upper portion an undercut recess, an elongated keyhole slot in the upper portion of said disc openinginto said-recess,-an upper chess-playing portion having a depending tongue for detachable interlocking engagement with said slot, said tongue being elongated in one direction to permitit to be inserted into said slot and then twistedthrough an angle to detachably lock it in said base, the removal of said upper portion checkers.

PAUL R. GRUBER. 

